Post navigation

Sports media notes version 10.27.17: More on the World Series and other earthy happenings

In addition to the weekly Sunday media column coming up, we have these things of note:

WORLD SERIES:

== Worth noting about expanded coverage of everything around the post season is how the Dodgers’ Facebook Live pages have been jumping in exposure at this point in the process.
The Dodgers report nearly a half-million views in joint content on Facebook Live from “Dodger Insider” (180,000), SportsNet LA’s “Leadoff LA” (95,000) and “Access SportsNet” postgame (204,000) around Game 1. Content begins two hours before each game and expands to 90 minutes after each game.
The coverage features the SNLA usual team of John Hartung, Orel Hershiser, Normar Garciaparra, Jerry Hairston Jr., Ned Colletti, Alanna Rizzo and even Joe Davis when he’s available.
It’s a chance for those who don’t have SNLA to see what’s there on a regular-season basis. And then be frustrated all over again.

Vin Scully says he doesn’t expect to be back out on the field again after last night’s special momenthttps://t.co/r7Nep41BdC

== As per a 15-minute conversation with Petros Papadakis and Matt Smith on Thursday’s KLAC-AM (570) show, Vin Scully said his appearance during the World Series Game 2 first-pitch ceremony may be the last time he’s out at the park to do that kind of public event again.
“I don’t expect to be back out on the field or do anything like that again. It was a remarkable conclusion to a career.”The entire interview at this link …And if anyone in L.A. was concerned that the Scully appearance seemed a little too provincial, it’s easy to forget his national charm based on his years of doing NBC World Series calls. A comment from Chicago’s Dan Bernstein: “It could have come off as cheesy, mawkish or contrived, but it didn’t because of the grace, professionalism and note-perfect stage timing of Scully himself. He made it work …”

== Through a new app called 15SOF — that’s shorthand for 15 Seconds of Fame — someone who has been captured in a TV shot during Fox’s World Series coverage is able to retrieve and preserve that moment.
Yes, that could be you in the Dodger Stadium pavilion reaching for a home run ball.
It works this way: Download the app in iTunes or Google Play, take a selfie, and the technology will filter crowd shots and then alert you if it finds a match. Up to you if you want to share it from there.
Maybe a little creepy, definitely a cool thing to access. All depends on how much you’re trying to lay low and not want to be discovered.
Because in Hollywood, that’s usually the case.
The company reached a deal with MLBAM to have this available for the World Series, but has already had deals with the NFL, NBA, NHL and Big Ten Network do this during special events and postseason games. It’s an app that has also been used with some teams to capture video-board appearance as well as at music festivals, college graduations and 5K races.
Kobe Bryant recently joined the company as an advisor, and sports reporter/journalist Armen Keteyian is on the 15SOF board of directors, calling this “the best idea for in-stadium fan engagement I’ve ever encountered. Capturing and finding ways to deliver and monetize live moments has become the holy grail in sports and live events.”
More info: www.15sof.com.

(Photo by: Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

== The announcement by the eight names on the ballot for the 2018 Ford C. Frick Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame for their career work in broadcasting focused this cycle on national voices and included current Fox play-by-play man Joe Buck. Two former Dodgers — Don Drysdale and Pee Wee Reese — are their for their careers with ABC (despite the fact Drysdale is much more known for his time with the Dodgers, Angels and White Sox), and then there is Bob Costas, Dizzy Dean, Buddy Blattner, Al Michaels and Joe Morgan. All living former Frick recipients, including Vin Scully, Jaime Jarrin and Dick Enberg, have a vote, and there is usually a fan online element to this coming up as well. The winner will be announced Dec. 13.
Buck’s former Fox booth partner, Tim McCarver, a Frick winner in 2012, was on the committee that nominated the final eight and of course has a vote. But Buck said this week he has no chance of being selected for something his father, Jack, was honored with in 1987.
Every three years, the cycle changes from national broadcaster, to local broadcasters and then to voices from long ago that may have been overlooked.
Joe Buck, also a longtime voice for the St. Louis Cardinals before he decided to just do national events for Fox, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dan Caeser that despite being just 48 and already having done 20 World Series calls, he’s not in this for the long haul.
“I’m signed for another couple years. At the end of this contract, it will be 22 World Series. At some point it’s time for somebody else to do these. I’m not concerned with setting some sort of longevity record. I’m sort of taking it year by year, contract by contract. I’m lucky to do what I’m doing, I’m smart enough to know that. Life happens. We’ll see where all of us are in a few years.”

== Buck, who told us last week he’d personally drive and pick up Scully to bring him to the Fox World Series broadcast booth, repeated the sentiments on the air during the Game 2 broadcast, moments after Scully was part of the first-ball ceremony.Buck’s words:
“There’s always a petition to get Vin Scully, knowing that he’s nearing the end of his broadcast career to do some of the World Series nationally on Fox. I am here to tell you I will drive to wherever Vin Scully is and hand deliver him to the booth if he would ever agree to it. Believe me, as Jack Buck’s son, I realize the power and the grace and elegance that is Vin Scully in Los Angeles. There’s only one Vin Scully.”

== And then there’s some worthy notation about how Steiner wasn’t happy with how the Wrigley Field crowd didn’t match his enthusiasm for calling the Dodgers’ return to the World Series after that long 29-year-absence as the NLCS ended.

== The Alex Rodriguez “path to redemption tour” as part of the Fox pregame show continues to draw credibility from TheRinger.com.

== A New York Times piece on the rise of The Athletic under the headline “Why the Athletic Wants to Pillage Newspapers,” came with this quote from co-founder Alex Mather: “We will wait every local paper out and let them continuously bleed until we are the last ones standing. We will suck them dry of their best talent at every moment. We will make business extremely difficult for them.”
After which came this smart reply:

Mather later decided to dial it back and apologize for “the tone,” but it’s kind of too late for some who’ve pulled back on their subscriptions. Why apologize if it’s what you believe?
When we got into a Twitter “discussion” about the lackluster content on the Chicago version of The Athletic, we got this response from its editor:

Agreed. But to an extent. I’m part of the core audience, whether or not my job title stands out. If I’m an unhappy reader, this attitude is either boldly refreshing or naively destructive, like many other media startups by guys who thought they had it all figured out.
You can’t afford to alienate any potential supporters. Or maybe you can.
Best of luck.

Meta

Comments policy

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@langnews.com.